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A teenage girl has been convicted of murdering a 16-year-old boy
she had lured into a "honey trap".
By Chris Summers BBC News
SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8048635.stm
Shakilus Townsend would still be alive today if it had not been for a
teenage temptress who toyed with his emotions and then betrayed him.
The 16-year-old became infatuated with Samantha Joseph and it would be his downfall.
The Devil Biatch SAMANTHA JOSEPH
Joseph, who was 15 at the time, already had a boyfriend,
18-year-old Danny McLean, but that did not stop her flirting
with Shakilus and making him believe she was his girlfriend.
In court she insisted she had never had sex with Shakilus,
or even kissed him, but admitted she was "cheating" on McLean
with the younger boy.
Joseph admitted under cross-examination she had been bored with
McLean, who just used her for sex and never took her out or bought
her presents, whereas Shakilus showered her with attention and offered
to buy her gifts, including a dog.
'Honey trap'
When McLean found out, he was furious and wanted to dump her.
But she persuaded him she loved him and offered to lure Shakilus into a "honey trap".
Giving evidence Joseph even claimed that shortly before he was
killed Shakilus had warned her McLean had been in contact with him
and wanted to set her up so that she would get beaten up.
She had told a friend: "Either I get the beats, or he gets the beats."
As they travelled on a bus together, through south London, Joseph
chatted on her mobile phone to her friend, who was known by some
as her cousin although they were not related.
Shakilus, who was often known as Shak or Shaki,
could only hear half of the conversation.
At one point her friend asked her: "Are you getting Shak set?"
She replied: "Yes".
Then the friend overheard Shakilus, perhaps becoming suspicious,
asking Joseph: "I hope you and your cousin aren't getting me set."
She replied: "Do you really think I'd do that?"
A few minutes later they got off the bus in Thornton Heath and he was
ambushed by McLean and his friends, members of the local Shine My Nine (SMN) gang.
It is thought up to a dozen youths were involved in the attack on Shakilus.
He was punched, kicked, beaten about the head with a baseball bat and stabbed
several times.
'Crying for his mother'
Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, said: "He was struggling to breathe and when
others went to his aid, Shakilus fell into unconsciousness. Just before doing so
he was crying for his mother and he was frightened, telling those around him
he did not want to die."
But he had suffered a mortal injury to his liver, inflicted almost certainly by McLean.
Joseph would later claim to police she had left Shakilus at the bus stop but
an eyewitness reported seeing her, wearing a distinctive orange flowery dress,
with the gang shortly after the attack.
The SMN gang were known to wear orange bandannas and clothing.
In the melee McLean had been hit on the head by a baseball bat wielded by
one of his friends.
Joseph agreed to go along with a false story he concocted - that he had
been injured after being attacked by another gang, known as Don't Say
Nothing (DSN), at exactly the same time as Shakilus was killed.
Shakilus had paid the ultimate price for falling in love with the wrong girl.
His mother, Nicola Dyer, told detectives he had been "smitten" with the
girl and said she was his "future wife".
She said he had "always had girlfriends" but for the last six weeks of his
life he had been talking only about this girl.
'Smitten'
"He said he was really in love with this girl, that she was to be his future
wife and that she was going to have his kids - he was really smitten with her.
"Shaki showed me pictures on his mobile phone and I remember thinking
she really is pretty and nice to look at," she said.
McLean and five other youths were also convicted of murder on Wednesday.
Ms Dyer wept as the guilty verdicts were read out.
Shakilus hailed from New Cross in south east London, while Thornton Heath
was the home territory of McLean and the SMN, whose name referred to a 9mm gun.
The court heard Shakilus had a Bebo account, under which he was known as Bugz,
and on it were pages of him posing with knives.
But Joseph told the court he was not violent and it was quite common for youths to
posture and brag on their Bebo pages.
After he was killed, several of Shakilus's friends posted threatening and obscene
messages on Bebo.
One said: "Remember u set up Shak you bitch. And he loved Yoooh."
The girl told the court she was aware of these threats and was scared of
retaliation by friends of Shakilus.
Joseph now faces a life sentence and will have plenty of time to mull over
the part she played in the death of an innocent boy.
-----------------------------------------
A teenage girl has been convicted of murdering a 16-year-old boy
she had lured into a "honey trap".
By Chris Summers BBC News
SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8048635.stm
Shakilus Townsend would still be alive today if it had not been for a
teenage temptress who toyed with his emotions and then betrayed him.
The 16-year-old became infatuated with Samantha Joseph and it would be his downfall.
The Devil Biatch SAMANTHA JOSEPH
Joseph, who was 15 at the time, already had a boyfriend,
18-year-old Danny McLean, but that did not stop her flirting
with Shakilus and making him believe she was his girlfriend.
In court she insisted she had never had sex with Shakilus,
or even kissed him, but admitted she was "cheating" on McLean
with the younger boy.
Joseph admitted under cross-examination she had been bored with
McLean, who just used her for sex and never took her out or bought
her presents, whereas Shakilus showered her with attention and offered
to buy her gifts, including a dog.
'Honey trap'
When McLean found out, he was furious and wanted to dump her.
But she persuaded him she loved him and offered to lure Shakilus into a "honey trap".
Giving evidence Joseph even claimed that shortly before he was
killed Shakilus had warned her McLean had been in contact with him
and wanted to set her up so that she would get beaten up.
She had told a friend: "Either I get the beats, or he gets the beats."
As they travelled on a bus together, through south London, Joseph
chatted on her mobile phone to her friend, who was known by some
as her cousin although they were not related.
Shakilus, who was often known as Shak or Shaki,
could only hear half of the conversation.
At one point her friend asked her: "Are you getting Shak set?"
She replied: "Yes".
Then the friend overheard Shakilus, perhaps becoming suspicious,
asking Joseph: "I hope you and your cousin aren't getting me set."
She replied: "Do you really think I'd do that?"
A few minutes later they got off the bus in Thornton Heath and he was
ambushed by McLean and his friends, members of the local Shine My Nine (SMN) gang.
It is thought up to a dozen youths were involved in the attack on Shakilus.
He was punched, kicked, beaten about the head with a baseball bat and stabbed
several times.
'Crying for his mother'
Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, said: "He was struggling to breathe and when
others went to his aid, Shakilus fell into unconsciousness. Just before doing so
he was crying for his mother and he was frightened, telling those around him
he did not want to die."
But he had suffered a mortal injury to his liver, inflicted almost certainly by McLean.
Joseph would later claim to police she had left Shakilus at the bus stop but
an eyewitness reported seeing her, wearing a distinctive orange flowery dress,
with the gang shortly after the attack.
The SMN gang were known to wear orange bandannas and clothing.
In the melee McLean had been hit on the head by a baseball bat wielded by
one of his friends.
Joseph agreed to go along with a false story he concocted - that he had
been injured after being attacked by another gang, known as Don't Say
Nothing (DSN), at exactly the same time as Shakilus was killed.
Shakilus had paid the ultimate price for falling in love with the wrong girl.
His mother, Nicola Dyer, told detectives he had been "smitten" with the
girl and said she was his "future wife".
She said he had "always had girlfriends" but for the last six weeks of his
life he had been talking only about this girl.
'Smitten'
"He said he was really in love with this girl, that she was to be his future
wife and that she was going to have his kids - he was really smitten with her.
"Shaki showed me pictures on his mobile phone and I remember thinking
she really is pretty and nice to look at," she said.
McLean and five other youths were also convicted of murder on Wednesday.
Ms Dyer wept as the guilty verdicts were read out.
Shakilus hailed from New Cross in south east London, while Thornton Heath
was the home territory of McLean and the SMN, whose name referred to a 9mm gun.
The court heard Shakilus had a Bebo account, under which he was known as Bugz,
and on it were pages of him posing with knives.
But Joseph told the court he was not violent and it was quite common for youths to
posture and brag on their Bebo pages.
After he was killed, several of Shakilus's friends posted threatening and obscene
messages on Bebo.
One said: "Remember u set up Shak you bitch. And he loved Yoooh."
The girl told the court she was aware of these threats and was scared of
retaliation by friends of Shakilus.
Joseph now faces a life sentence and will have plenty of time to mull over
the part she played in the death of an innocent boy.
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